When Minikins Join The Rat Race..

A friend of a friend's baby just turned a month old and I was invited to the Full Moon party in Penampang. Me and boo went with few others and when we arrived I was surprised to see so many women there who are new mothers. I don't know whether to salute them or shake my head in wonderment at their willingness to brave the heat with their poor little babies in tow. Anyway..

It is said that birds of a feather flock together so naturally women flock together and within those circles of women, the new mothers uh, flock even closer together. It all begins, of course, with one asking the other how old their baby is (soalan wajib tu). The conversation flowed freely and languidly between the new mothers and you can really see that they share a special bond.

 (I couldn't really join in too much as I myself am not a mother and no matter how many new mothers I've interviewed, no matter how much I watched the Discovery Home and Health channel or tune in to Oprah about child-raising, nothing beats the real deal. The lack of bond and conversation however, enabled me to be an observer and keen listener.)

You know how it is. One would tell what she worries that her daughter isn't getting enough nutrients because she refuses to eat rice porridge and if the other responded with something along the lines of,"Oh, gosh! I know how you feel. My little minikin wouldn't touch that stuff either until I started blending it with fruits and honey. Why don't you try it? I'll give you the recipe" they would become friends for life.

However, it turns out new mums do collide, especially when they start talking about their babies achievements. Oh, it starts innocently enough. One would maybe ask,"Can your baby sit yet?" and the other might reply, "No, she just started to turn over by herself and crawl a bit" The first mum would then say,"Oh, but she's 6 moths old isn't she? That's quite slow. My little minikin could turn over when she was 4 months old." And so on it goes..

And here I thought competitions are only reserved for grown-ups on who has the biggest car/house or better job/higher pay. Turns out the wee little minikins are joining the uh, 'rat' race too (on who learns to flip over/crawls/sits/stands/walks/speak sooner) albeit via their mothers.